Brooklyn — Chase Briscoe earned the pole for Sunday’s Firekeepers 400 NASCAR Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

By LARRY LAGE

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit.

“That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “I’m not deterred at all. We’re in good shape.”

Hamlin said Jordan feels the same way.

“He just remains very confident, just like I do,” Hamiln said.

NASCAR has not commented on the latest ruling.

23XI and Front Row sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. They asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday ruled in NASCAR’s favor.

“We’re looking at all options right now,” Hamlin said.

The teams, each winless this year, said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.

Hamlin insisted he’s not worried about losing drivers because of the uncertainty.

“I’m not focused on that particularly right this second,” he said.

Reddick, who was last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title in November, enters the race Sunday at Michigan ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings.

The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates.

The six teams may have to compete as “open” cars and would have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and would receive a fraction of the money.

Without a charter, Hamlin said it would cost the teams “tens of millions,” to run three cars.

“We’re committed to run this season open if we have to,” he said. “We’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team is going to be here for the long haul and we’re confident of that.”

The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.

NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field.

“We feel like facts were on our side,” Hamlin said. “I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

LEXINGTON, Oh. — AR Motorsports’ Thomas Merrill won the pole Saturday afternoon (June 7) for Sunday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio with a lap at 94.159 mph. It is his first career pole.

“[We found] most of our speed in clear track,” Merrill said after the session. “What can I saw about this AR Motorsports crew. New to IMSA, this is only the second race for this team and it’s an unbelievable result.”

Merrill won the pole by .115 seconds over TeamTGM’s Paul Holton. Turner Motorsport’s Dillon Machavern qualified third, then CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister and Winward Racing’s Bryce Ward.

Qualifying saw Rennsport One’s Luca Mars go fastest early on in his Porsche. However, he was eventually usurped by Turner Motorsport’s Dillon Machavern and Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Moisey Uretsky.

The surprise in practice was AR Motorsports’ Thomas Merrill. Merrill was fastest overall in Practice No. 2 earlier in the morning and managed to sustain that pace to put himself on top.

Just past the halfway point of the session, Holton went fastest overall in his Aston Martin with a lap at 94.033 mph, a lap just .009 seconds faster than Merrill. Given the close margin, both Holton and Merrill had to continue to push.

Merrill set the fastest time of the session in Sector No. 2 with less than a minute to go in a final push. Sure enough, he was able to carry that quick sector to set the pole-winning lap with a little more than 10 seconds to go.

In TCR, Montreal Motorsports Group’s Karl Wittmer put himself on the provisional pole early on in his Honda Civic. He then bettered his time while setting the fastest times of all in Sector No. 2 and No. 3. Eventually, he improved his lap of record to 93.707 mph.

Behind Wittmer, Precision Racing LA’s Celso Neto and Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez were the main contenders early in the session to challenge Wittmer. Later on, HART’s Chad Gilsinger put himself in the mix.

Ultimately, no one was able to touch Wittmer. The Quebec native set the fastest time in all three sectors and never dropped out of the lead en route to winning the pole with a new class record.

Wittmer’s lap was .306 seconds faster than Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mason Filippi. Gonzalez was third, then Mark Wilkins and Gilsinger.

The qualifying session went caution-free. Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew had an off-course excursion in turn 9, but managed to resume without issue.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio is scheduled to go green at Noon ET Sunday afternoon. Coverage will start at 11:55 a.m. ET on both the IMSA Official YouTube channel and on Peacock.

That said, the weather forecast for Sunday is pretty terrible. Available forecasts indicate that there will be a decent amount of rain during the race, the heaviest possibly being near the start.

For his part, Merrill told Frontstretch that he has raced in the rain at Mid-Ohio once before, but it was roughly a decade ago prior to the track’s most recent repave. Anyone who watched the NASCAR Xfinity Series B&L Transport 170 from 2016 will remember that Mid-Ohio can be treacherous in the rain. It should be an interesting race.

Despite the bad weather, Frontstretch will be on-site at Mid-Ohio to bring you all the splashy action.

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He’s the manager of the site’s FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site’s Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

With just five laps to go in the scheduled distance for Saturday’s NASCAR Truck race at Michigan, 18-year-old rookie Gio Ruggiero and NASCAR Cup star Ross Chastain lined up on the front row for a mad dash to the finish.

Unfortunately for them, neither driver would be part of that fight to the checkered flag. Staying out on old tires with anxious drivers behind them, the pushes from trucks behind came early in the restart zone as Ruggiero tried to wait to accelerate for as long as he could, aiming to shorten the run down into Turn 1.

Leaving the restart zone, tires had already started spinning and trucks began to turn sideways, with Chastain saving his — only to be hooked by Ruggiero as he got turned down the track. 12 trucks were involved in the crash that followed, with Corey LaJoie moving from fifth to first in the chaos.

Chastain’s truck was destroyed, as was the truck of championship leader Corey Heim. Along with them and Ruggiero, the following drivers were listed as being involved in the incident: Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Daniel Hemric, Dawson Sutton, Frankie Muniz, Chandler Smith, Andres Perez De Lara, Connor Mosack, and Ben Rhodes.

What happened?

Ross Chastain, Niece Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

After the race, Ruggiero still wasn’t sure what happened. “Yeah, I don’t know. Have to watch the replay. Haven’t seen it yet, looked at it, (nor) talked about it as a team yet, said the rookie driver for TRICON. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate. We had a really good truck and not sure what happened there. Just felt like I wasn’t ready to go yet. I was right at the start of the restart zone. Just have to look at the replay to see what happened there.”

Heim was directly behind Ruggiero and was trying to push his teammate. On the radio, he seemed frustrated by the teenager’s decision to wait so long in the restart zone.

“Myself and the No. 17 [Ruggiero] just didn’t link up the way we wanted to, and it went down from there,” he said after the race, barely touching on it. “Definitely had the truck to beat today. Just didn’t work out.”

Chastain spoke with FOX Sport’s Bob Pockrass outside the infield care center, saying: “The push came really hard from behind. It felt like a couple trucks connected to come through the 15 [Gray] to me. I haven’t seen a great replay yet, but I was definitely getting pushed before the restart zone, and I didn’t want to jump.”

The race ended up going into triple overtime with Stewart Friesen ultimately capturing the checkered flag, snapping a three-year winless streak.

Photos from Michigan – Race

(WISH) — WISH-TV Driver Analyst Graham Rahal and his wife Courtney Force are expecting a third child!

“Surprise! Baby Rahal #3 coming this fall! We can’t wait to complete our family!” Force wrote on Instagram.

Rahal and Force made the announcement on Saturday. They have two daughters, Harlan and Tinley.

Rahal has been WISH-TV’s Driver Analyst for 13 years.

He is 15th in the NTT IndyCar Series Championship standings. Rahal finished 17th at the Indianapolis 500 in 2025.

Black clouds rolled in at Brands Hatch just as the Grand Marshal spoke motorsport’s most famous words: “Drivers, start your engines!” That was the moment the rain came down in torrents. Immediately, the race turned into an almost impossible puzzle – some drivers pitted for rain tires, while others were already on wets. Safety concerns caused by multiple cars off track and heavy rain made race control opt for a red flag. In addition, a blackout knocked out power and the internet at the circuit. After the restart, Melvin de Groot took control, passing three drivers on his way to a spectacular maiden NASCAR Euro Series OPEN victory in the toughest possible conditions.

NASCAR GP UK LINKS: INFO & TICKETS | SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST | LIVE TIMING | WATCH LIVE In what was a memorable race, Dominique Schaak, who started the race on rain tires, led the field to the green flag after the safety car period, marking his first-ever laps in the lead in NASCAR. However, the German came under immediate pressure and gradually dropped through the order, crossing the finish line in 17th place. Matthew Ellis then took command and built a sizable lead, but the Briton couldn’t hold it for long. Thomas Toffel overtook the Lux Motorsport driver, who later spun and finished eighth. Toffel led for a time, but Melvin de Groot was charging hard from third.

De Groot, the Dutch powerhouse behind the wheel of the #69 Team Bleekemolen Toyota, first passed reigning champion Martin Doubek before overtaking Toffel to seize the lead. He then pulled away to claim a remarkable victory in what will be remembered as one of the toughest races in NASCAR Euro Series history. Celebrating with his team in victory lane, de Groot danced in the rain, sealing his name in the series winners’ list. He’s now leading the OPEN championship standings five points ahead of Thomas Dombrowski.

“It was an amazing race,” said de Groot, who also topped the Legend Trophy standings, shortly after arriving in Victory Lane. “I couldn’t see anything out there – no visibility at all. I had to come back from, I think, fifth or sixth. Over the radio, they told me to stick to certain lines, so I just focused on following that. I knew I was a bit quicker, so I thought, now’s the time to attack. I’m really happy about this – it took me a few years to get here! Given the conditions, it was tough battling both the car and the drivers around me. To finally get the win feels incredible.”

Toffel crossed the finish line in second place, 7.725 seconds behind the race winner. The Swiss driver focused on keeping his #34 M Racing car clean and gathering crucial points, especially after his heavy crash in Vallelunga. De Groot’s teammate Bruno Mulders claimed third, securing his third podium of the 2025 OPEN season. He also won the race in the Master Trophy for aspiring drivers in the division. Reigning champion Martin Doubek was pushed back to fourth after a penalty for forcing another driver off the track. Thomas Dombrowski completed the top-5, cementing himself as de Groot’s closest rival in the overall standings. The Frenchman ended up second in the Master Trophy ranks ahead of Sandro Tavartkiladze in sixth overall. 

Patrick Schober fought back to seventh after losing all practice time on Friday due to an engine failure, showing strong pace in challenging wet conditions. The Austrian outpaced Matthew Ellis and Jordan O’Brien, who scored his first top-10 finish in his NASCAR Euro Series debut at the end of a funambolic drive. Florian Richard rounded out the top-10. In the Legend Trophy, Roberto Benedetti finished second in 12th overall, just ahead of Davide Frulio who took third in class and 13th overall. Happinessa claimed the Lady Trophy with a 22nd-place finish.

In his first ever NASCAR Euro Series event, O’Brien set the fastest lap and will start Sunday’s OPEN race from pole position. Melvin de Groot now leads both the overall standings and the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 45 and over. Thomas Dombrowski sits second, five points behind the Team Bleekemolen driver, while Patrick Schober is third, seven points off the leader. Martin Doubek and Sandro Tavartkiladze complete the top-5. Thomas Krasonis dropped to sixth after a difficult race that saw him finish 20th due to technical issues.

Due to a blackout caused by heavy rain at Brands Hatch, the facility experienced multiple internet outages. On behalf of the NASCAR Euro Series, we apologize to all fans for the disruptions during the live stream. We are committed to bringing you the best coverage of this eventful and memorable OPEN division race.

After two races full of drama and spectacle on Saturday, NASCAR GP UK still has two more races that will aim to keep up the hype that has been showcased so far. Compared to other rounds in the schedule, PRO Round 06 will go first at 14:10 CEST followed by OPEN Round 06 at 17:35 CEST. All races will be broadcast live on the official EuroNASCAR YouTube channel and TV channels around the world.

NASCAR Euro Series PR